We are half way through our journey here in Ghana and things are going very well. Today we are in Takoradi checking internet, shopping, and enjoying the "big city" life.
Life back in Cape Three Points is wonderful. This week we worked hard on our main construction project, building the Chief's Palace. We completed 10 layers of cement block on three rooms-- pretty impressive in 7 days time! Emmanuel, our foreman, continues to teach us different techniques as we work through the project. Now that we have laid all the cement block we have started to work with the carpenters to build frames for the windows and doors. We will also build a frame for the roof starting next week. Putney students have helped in every aspect of the building, including helping the carpenters saw wood and even going into the jungle to carry the boards back!
Work at the school has also been impressive. Our students have been teaching classes in the primary school and doing a great job. In the afternoons we have had the chance to continue dance and drum classes with our teacher, Joe, and the Cultural Group of Cape Three Points. Putney students are really starting to pick up the moves!
Afternoons have also included swimming at our beach and some rowdy games of volleyball enjoyed by Putney and Cape Three Points youth alike. Life at Trinity Yard has been wonderful. We have enjoyed lots of delicious food-- each day, Putney students help cook breakfast and dinner.
This week we have an upcoming birthday (Geoffrey Wenzlau) and we'll be preparing a feast of his choice to celebrate his big day. This upcoming week we will continue work at the Chief's Palace and in the primary school until Friday when we will head to Cape Coast to visit the slave forts at Elmina and Cape Coast and then head to Kakum Park. Tonight we will stay the night at Dadson's Lodge at Busua Beach and Putney students will have an opportunity to learn to surf tomorrow morning with Black Star Surf Shop guides. We are all looking forward to this weekend!
All in all, everything is excellent here in Cape Three Points. We have been welcomed time and time again by the local people here and Putney students are really starting to feel at home.
Hugs from Ghana,
Kelsey and Dakota
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Kelsey Burns and Dakota Casserly
This website is visited by the family and friends of participants in Putney Student Travel's Community Service program in Cape Three Points, Ghana to check in on the progress of the group.
Subscribe via email
Visit our Website
Local Time in Cape Three Points, Ghana
Flight Itinerary
British Airways
June 29: BA182 JFK/LHR 10:30 P - 10:20 A on June 30
June 30: BA81 LHR/ACC 2:15 P - 8:10 P
July 28: BA78 ACC/LHR 10:40 P - 6:40 A on July 29
July 29: BA175 LHR/JFK 10:25 A - 12:55 P
June 29: BA182 JFK/LHR 10:30 P - 10:20 A on June 30
June 30: BA81 LHR/ACC 2:15 P - 8:10 P
July 28: BA78 ACC/LHR 10:40 P - 6:40 A on July 29
July 29: BA175 LHR/JFK 10:25 A - 12:55 P
Trip Leaders
Kelsey Burns and Dakota Casserly
KELSEY BURNS
Saint Lawrence University, B.A. cum laude, Spanish. Kelsey spent her junior year studying literature, art history, ecology, and theater at Colegio Mayor Isabel de España in Madrid, Spain. At Saint Lawrence, Kelsey worked as a peer tutor, a teacher's assistant for the Spanish department, and in the International Office for the Spain Study Abroad program. She was a member of the women's lacrosse team and the Outing Club. Kelsey has traveled extensively in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. This will be Kelsey's seventh summer with Putney Student Travel. She has led a Language Learning program in Spain, Community Service programs in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, and assistant directed the Global Action programs at Yale this past summer. Kelsey works full time at the Putney Student Travel office in Putney, Vermont as an Associate Director and Leadership Coordinator. She is responsible for organizing Putney's programs in Spain, Ecuador, and Ghana and hiring the Putney leaders. When she isn't traveling, Kelsey loves to hike, bike, read, and dance. She is fluent in Spanish.
DAKOTA CASSERLY
University of Vermont, B.A., Business Administration, Minor in Environmental Studies; University of Nevada, Reno, Master of Land Use Planning degree candidate. While at UVM, Dakota was an active mentor with the Vermont DREAM Program, a youth mentoring organization. He also played varsity lacrosse, was a member of the Consortium for Ecological Living (CEL) and attended UVM's Costa Rica Travel-Study Program, where he studied ecotourism and culture. After graduation, Dakota worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, and received the State of Nevada's AmeriCorps Volunteer of the Year award. The following year Dakota taught English in Thailand and explored Southeast Asia. Presently, when not working on his graduate studies, Dakota enjoys life as a bike commuter and explores the Sierra Nevada Mountains.